Write-Up

The Tiger Trophy (SailJuice) - Rutland SC, UK, 5/6th Feb

Another incredible Tiger Trophy to remember! Max gusts were recorded on the race course of 38kn on Saturday and 39kn on Sunday making yards gained upwind hard earned at times and providing some memorably fast downwinds! The severity of the gusts led to only 19 of the 93 competitors finishing all three races and there was no discard! However, whilst the wind was epic the temperatures were quite mild even with wind chill - although the water was a little chilly apparently!

The gusts were absolutely ferocious with water being blown up out of the lake at times. Sailors needed quick reactions to avoid being blown flat or propelled into a nose dive. That coupled with a cauldron of a sea state as waves rebounded off the shorline as we bounced down the bottom broad reach made for some very wild rides!

The lead RS Aeros were steady in their consitency with Peter Barton scoring 11,10,8  in his RS Aero 7 and Sam Mettam scoring 20,20,16 in his borrowed RS Aero 6 demo rig. Ellie Craig gave it her all and managed a finish but the RS Aero 7 was too much for a smaller sailor to pin down and make good headway on this occasion. Congratulations to local RS Aero sailor, Ollie Williamson, in his RS Aero 5 in completing a race too.

SailRacer trackers were fitted to every boat and recorded some impressive speeds. The outright fastest was Roger Gilbert and Ben McGrane in their 505 at 18.7kts. Adjusting the speeds using Great Lakes Handicaps Ollie Williamson was 2nd fastest overall in his RS Aero 5 at 15.9kts to the 2000 in 1st with 17.1kts!

Next up is the final Selden SailJuice Winter Series event for the 2021/22 season the RS Aero UK Winter Championship at the Oxford Blue on Saturday 19th Feb. Enter HERE

PHOTOS by Tim Olin
Winter 2021/22 Gallery for larger photos

VIDEO PLAYLIST by Jon Williams - Twitchy RS Aero gybe on clip #14 as the gust hits!

Results